Dear Editor,
Reading that the governor, in the article about “appointed formateur” in “The Daily Herald”, emphasized the importance of strict observance of the regulatory requirements with regard to, amongst others, the screening criteria applicable for candidate ministers, again made me realize how important it is to lead by example.
With all due respect to the governor’s plead, fact is that when he decided not to sign the national decrees to appoint two candidate-ministers earlier this year, he himself didn’t adhere to the Rules of Procedure for the Governor of St. Maarten (a kingdom law). According to this Regulation he was obligated to send the national decrees that he refused to sign, immediately to the King (article 21 of the Regulation). He never did.
According to article 25, sub 1c, of this Regulation, not complying with any of the stipulations laid down in this Regulation is a punishable act/a crime. People who think that because of the fact that the government fell, that the governor in this case didn’t have to comply with this Regulation anymore, are obviously mistaken. Nobody is above the law.
The fact that nobody has held him responsible for not complying with this Regulation, is something else. The Council of Advice has called the current screening process unclear and outdated. The Council of Advice has also stressed on the importance of the privacy of candidate-ministers in the context of the screening. In the case of the two candidate ministers, this was also not taken into account. They were not informed beforehand by the governor of his reasons and had to find out on social media outlets, that they wouldn’t be appointed as ministers.
Sadly, until this day no apology for this very improper handling of their privacy was received from the governor or his cabinet. I can only conclude that, evidently, it is very difficult to lead by example.
Name withheld at author’s request.
